‘Drive home? Oh, how marvellous! You are an angel, Martin, to think of me.’
He was as shy as ever, bending his head as he talked to her. Observing him she thought that she herself had grown up. The loss of Jennifer had given her a kind of self-assurance and maturity of manner, a staidness. For the first time she was seeing Martin from an entirely detached and unromantic angle, and she thought: “Then this is how I shall see Roddy. He won’t confuse and entangle me any more. All that sort of thing is over for me.”
‘It’s very nice to see you again, Judith. It’s ages since.... You look a bit thin, don’t you?’
‘It’s those miserable exams, Martin. I did work so hard.... I don’t know why.’
‘Oh! You shouldn’t have.’
He seemed quite overcome.
Dear Martin!... In some corner of her heart a weight was lifting.... Jennifer was suddenly remote.
‘Wait for me, Martin.... I’ll be ready in a quarter of an hour.’
She had not said good-bye to Mabel. She had been dreading that last duty.... No time now, thank heaven, for anything prolonged.... Simplest to write a little note and tell someone to stick it in her door.